Glitch puts whole school in detention

MIXED MESSAGES: The text message sent out to parents of Waimea College (in New Zealand) students today, followed by the retraction sent when the school discovered the error.

Every student at Waimea College in Nelson is to do detention tomorrow – or so parents were mistakenly told in a text message.Principal Larry Ching confirmed multiple text messages had been sent to “most if not all” of the 1500 parents on Waimea’s text-notification system today notifying that their child was expected to show up for detention after school on Thursday.

“We have 1500 students who theoretically are on detention but in actual fact very few of them are,” he said.

The college later sent out an apology and correction.

Sex offending teacher admits more charges

3 News

SEX OFFENDER: James Parker has admitted more charges of abuse.

A paedophile deputy principal who preyed on 20 young victims has pleaded guilty to 25 further charges of sexual offences.

James Parker’s tally of sexual offending now stands at 74 after his appearance in the Kaitaia District Court this morning.

Parker, 38, pleaded guilty in August 2012 to 49 charges of sexual indecent assault and sexual connection against 12 victims.

The 25 extra charges relate to eight other boys, bringing the total number of victims to 20.

Parker’s lawyer, Alex Witten-Hannah, said after a “real reluctance” to plead guilty to the charges of sexual violation, today’s plea was an attempt to begin to move on from this “nightmare”.

“James really wants to get this behind him, not only for his sake but for the boys’ sake,” said Witten-Hannah.

Judge Greg Davis passed sentencing to the High Court, saying he believed Parker should be considered for preventive detention, a sentence of indefinite incarceration that the District Court did not have jurisdiction to hand down.

“I am satisfied that given the nature of offences that have been committed, and the period of time over which they have been committed, and the lengths you went to to gain the trust, not only of these boys but their wider families and the communities, that there were significant acts of grooming on your part.

“The nature of the offences became manifestly more serious over that 13-year period, culminating in the sexual violation acts,” said Judge Davis.

Parker was given a stage one warning under the “three strikes law”.

The judge warned Parker of the consequences of further violent offending.

“If you are convicted of any serious violent offences after this warning, and a judge imposes a sentence of imprisonment, you will serve that sentence without parole or early release.

“If you are convicted of murder after this warning then you must be convicted of life imprisonment without parole, unless it was manifestly unjust.”

Parker welcomed the warning and was adamant he would never offend again, Witten-Hannah said.

He was prepared to serve a long sentence but, without taking away from the gravity of the offences, the court and the community must distinguish between Parker’s offending and other violent acts, his lawyer said.

“It has to be borne in mind that the charges James Parker has pleaded guilty to are not charges that involve violence or brutality. He is not a Beast of Blenheim. He breached the trust of the boys, but it didn’t involve intimidation or violence,” Witten-Hannah said.

However, a victims’ mother disputed that Parker’s acts were not ones of violence or brutality.

“Do you know that backlash? The children become violent. I have had my son attack me for not being there for him, and you are telling me that what that man did is not violent?” she said outside the court.

Parker would next appear in the High Court at Whangarei on May 2.

– © Fairfax NZ New

Violent teacher is sent packing

A GOLD Coast teacher was finally booted out of the classroom last year after admitting to physically and verbally abusing students since 2003.

Documents reveal the man was allowed to teach for more than eight years despite several allegations of violence and angry outbursts against children.

In 2003, the teacher “slapped a Year 8 student across the head”, which resulted in the department then reminding him “of his obligations under the Code of Conduct”.

Only four months later, he “swore at and hit a student”, which led the department to have to again “remind him again of his obligations”.

The teacher was one of four on the Gold Coast banned last year, with the others facing charges including possession of illegal weapons and child pornography, sexual abuse and running an illegal escort service.

The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal was told one teacher’s violence escalated in 2011 when he grabbed a year eight student by the throat and hurled him into a pole.

According to tribunal documents that were presented, the student said: “He grabbed me near my collarbone and had his thumb and index finger around my throat … there was a pole … he pushed me into that.”

The next day the teacher elbowed a student and he pushed a female Year 11 student while yelling at her loudly, one month after that.

The department did not terminate his registration for another six months.

The Department of Education, Training and Employment would not comment on the case when contacted yesterday.

John Ryan, director of the Queensland College of Teachers, which manages teacher registrations, claimed that it was very difficult to be able to deregister a teacher.

“It is challenging for us to establish a case that someone is not a suitable teacher,” Mr Ryan said.

“Two teachers from the Gold Coast region had their teacher registration suspended during 2012. Both were charged with a serious offence by the Queensland Police Service.

“One teacher was charged in relation to child pornography and illegal possession of weapons. Another teacher was charged with indecent dealing of a child under the age of 16.

“Both cases are still proceeding through the judicial process and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this moment,” he said.

The four Gold Coast teachers were among 32 teachers throughout Queensland who were disqualified or suspended last year, according to a report tabled in State Parliament.

Mr Ryan said the hiring of teachers was ultimately up to individual schools.

“They can access any applicant’s history through our department,” he said.

“They must have thought he was fine to teach.”

There are 98,633 approved teachers in Queensland, Mr Ryan said.

Gold Coast teacher Graeme Charles Neilson had his teaching registration suspended for three years from November last year after he was convicted of providing what was an illegal prostitution service and attempting to corrupt a witness.

Neilson pleaded guilty to operating an illegal escort service with his wife and he was fined $2000 and sentenced to 20 days imprisonment.

Mr Ryan said while the offence had nothing to do with children, Neilson could not continue to teach.

Neilson was also sentenced to six months imprisonment for attempting to corrupt a witness.

 

Source: goldcoast.com.au

Minecraft in schools?

BRICK BY BRICK: In a Minecraft world created by a teacher at an American school in Kuwait, students explore ancient history.

Do you dream about books of enchantment? Do you know the difference between sandstone and cobblestone? Does the word “creeper” give you, well, the creeps?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you are probably a Minecraft kid. And you’re not alone.

More than 9.6 million people have downloaded the video game in little more than a year.

Would you be shocked if your teacher assigned you to play Minecraft at school? At a few Washington DC-area schools, teachers are doing just that. The Lego-like building game has become a popular tool for classroom lessons as well as life lessons.

Hank Lanphier and Amy Yount, social studies teachers at St Patrick’s Episcopal Day School in Washington, experimented with using Minecraft this year to transport students to an ancient Roman city.

Lanphier built the city’s sandstone block walls and then assigned each sixth-grader a plot of land on which to build a home.

During a recent class, Espeana Green, 12, was using a computer to create an insula, a kind of ancient Roman apartment building. She had drawn a floor plan and had a builder’s check-list.

“Every house needs to have an entrance,” Espeana said, reading over the list.

Check.

“The first floor needs to be made of stone.”

Check.

Then she moved on to placing wood blocks to form the upper floors.

Mac Johnson, 12, was also working intently on an insula. Mac had played Minecraft before and wasn’t surprised that his teachers decided to use it in class.

“Mr Lanphier said the reason that we’re using this is because it’s an accurate way to build things without just having to write down all this stuff,” Mac said. “You still have to make floor plans, but it’s more interactive and more fun.”

The students play in Minecraft’s Creative mode, which means that they don’t have to search for building materials. But that didn’t mean the students didn’t face challenges.

“We need mud brick,” Lanphier said. Minecraft doesn’t offer that building material, which was common in Roman times. “So what are we going to do?” he asked.

Lanphier said the ability to tackle that kind of problem-solving is part of why he likes Minecraft. He plans to use the game again for next year’s sixth-graders, many of whom are already excited about the project.

Piper Phillips, 11, had a warning for her younger schoolmates.

“It’s not all fun and games,” she said while making adjustments to her insula. “There’s actually a lot of work involved.”

When St Patrick’s teachers decided to use the game, school technology co-ordinator Jonathan Fichter contacted TeacherGaming, a company that helps schools set up Minecraft.

Joel Levin, the company’s co-founder, had been using Minecraft with his students at a New York City private school for months before the game’s official release.

The first lesson for his second-graders was about online behaviour, Levin said. They had to work together and show respect while playing the game, just as they did in the classroom.

“They were used to winning at all costs,” he said. “It was the first time they had done something like this with limits . . . setting expectations on their behaviour.”

Levin then started a blog to share ideas with other teachers. He got questions and lesson plans from around the world.

“There’s a science teacher in Australia who makes giant models of cells,” Levin said.

The blog’s popularity prompted Levin to launch TeacherGaming with a partner in Finland and the support of Minecraft’s creator, Mojang, which is located in Sweden. Levin’s company has solved many technical problems that had frustrated teachers. The next step, he said, is to provide teachers with ways of working Minecraft into history, maths, reading or art classes.

“Before Minecraft, I tried to use video games in class, but I always had to change my lesson to fit the game,” Levin said. “Minecraft was the first game that came along where I could change the game to fit my lesson.”

Brian Eastman hasn’t tried using the game in his maths classes at Lanier Middle School in Fairfax, Virginia, but he thought it would be a welcome addition to the school’s after-school programs.

“I was looking around at the other clubs,” Eastman said. “A lot of them are competitive. This is cooperative. A group of kids could build something together.”

So Eastman started a Minecraft club in January. The first week, about 50 seventh- and eighth-graders – mostly boys – showed up for 30 spots, he said.

Sean Collins and Xavier Taylor, both seventh-graders, were among the first 30 to show up for a recent Monday meeting. Both said they play regularly at home.

“I usually play Survival,” said Sean, referring to the Minecraft mode that includes creatures such as zombies and creepers. In Survival mode – which is used during the club meetings – players aren’t given tools or materials at the beginning of the game. They chop down trees for wood and dig into the ground for minerals.

“It’s so cool to be starting with nothing,” said Sean, who is 12.

“You can shape your own world – literally,” added Xavier, also 12.

Eastman has a few rules (no bad language, no breaking what someone else has built), but he makes no assignments. The students form small groups, and as they build and search for supplies, the buzz of conversation fills the room.

Eastman walks around, offering help and acknowledging students’ creativity. He said he doesn’t expect them to lose interest any-time soon.

“I think the appeal for the kids is a sense of ownership. They attend school, but it’s not theirs. In Minecraft, they can say, ‘This is mine. I had to work for it, and I’ve created it.’ “

–Washington Post

Students ‘reliant’ on web to learn

QUEENSLAND’S high school students may not cope without the internet, a parliamentary committee has heard.

Brisbane-based science teacher David Madden says there is no point having students waste hours completing tedious experiments or learning mountains of facts in the digital age.

Mr Madden says a typical physics experiment that measures how fast a cart rolls down a slope used to take hours to measure, record and analyse.

But he demonstrated to a Queensland parliamentary committee today the same experiment could be done by sliding a smart phone down a book, with a downloaded application creating a detailed graph instantly.

Mr Madden said the push to become more reliant on technology means more time has been freed up in the classroom to teach.

“Do I use it to fill kids heads up with more information about science they could look up on the internet anyway?” he asked the Education and Innovation Committee inquiry.

“Or do I take the opportunity instead to teach them to be a real scientist?”

Committee chair Rosemary Menkins raised concerns about whether the practice would create a generation of students that don’t know the the process behind what they were learning and would be completely reliant on the internet.

Mr Madden said it was a trade-off teachers were making to educate “21st century” students.

“I wonder how this generation will survive if the internet does not exist,” he told the committee.

“But I guess I’ve got to look at the balance of probabilities and say: ‘well, it’s likely these students will have the internet’.

“So, I can teach them to live without it or I could teach them to take advantage of it and maximise their potential using the resources they’ve got.”

The committee is looking into whether assessment methods are holding high school students back from studying senior maths chemistry and physics amid fears of dwindling enrolment nu

Nail Bomb left in toilet at Heretaunga College in New Zealand

A disgruntled pupil planted a nail bomb in a toilet at Heretaunga College, forcing teachers and pupils to be evacuated from a classroom block.

The military’s bomb disposal unit was called to the Upper Hutt school after police were alerted about 1pm yesterday.

Staff found the bomb – described as a combination of Molotov cocktail and nail bomb – upright in the bowl of a toilet in the school’s Morgan Wing.

It is thought a pupil, who had earlier in the day been asked to leave the school, had returned and placed the bomb in the toilet.

The school wing containing the toilet block was evacuated while the bomb disposal unit dismantled the device, Lower Hutt Senior Sergeant Marc Clausen said.

“It was like a big-size jar with some sort of petrol in it, and taped around the outside of the jar were about eight nails, with toilet paper in the inside. The nails were sitting virtually straight, spaced around the jar, held with cellotape.

“It was taken outside and we got the bomb squad to come in and disassemble it.”

The bomb squad found the jar contained a mixture of petrol and water. It looked as if someone may have tried to flush it, Mr Clausen said.

Police spoke to a year 13 boy at the scene. No charges had been laid as of last night.

“Earlier in the day a 17-year-old male had been kicked out of school for some sort of behavioural offence. They thought it might have been the same male. But at this stage the investigation is continuing,” Mr Clausen said.

The mother of a Heretaunga College pupil said the year 13 boy had taken a “flame thrower” to school in the morning.

“Earlier he was out with a Lynx [aerosol deodorant] can and a lighter.”

That incident had apparently led to him being asked to leave school, she said.

It’s thought he later returned to the school and planted the bomb in the toilet.

Acting school principal Kiri Gill was “incredibly grateful” the bomb had not been detonated and praised students and teachers for their calm response.

Source: stuff.co.nz